Friday, December 21, 2012

The 105 lb weight class at the Ch 7 stadium will always have a soft spot in my heart. For pure entertainment value alone, these little guys always deliver hard and fast action. Some great young talent here.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

YMT believes in building,
learning and stimulating the mind, not only the body. Come join us for
the first ever Movie Night at YMT! Movie night will be showing fights or
movies that change the way YOU think. Step outside of your current
existence and change your perspective.

The first YMT Movie night is about starting the new year with a strong understanding of what our roles are on this earth.

Join me for the movie "I AM" by Tom Shadyac I will be providing some healthy eats such as Kale chips, Zucchini n feta, Pita chips n humus and more.

Going forward we will be featuring fights that are relevant to your
training, or new Martial Arts movies, even a few TED talks to get your
mind open. We have no boundaries at YMT, nor should you.

Feel free to contribute some eats and some lively discussion after.

Love, Respect and Believe.

A $5 cover will apply. Memberships will also be able to be upgraded to include entrance to such things like movie nights and in house events.

He also made a fun highlight of our fighter's clips. It features almost all of our amateur athletes from first timers to the old guys with hearts of gold:

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Thank you to Kru Mina Reyes for designing our brand new website!
There's a good chance you are reading this from the website itself too! This blog is now "inside" of the new website.
So now, you can just go to www.yorkmuaythai.com and see all the blog posts updated on the site!

Anyways, look for the site to be updated continuously, and of course enjoy the fight posts coming your way...
*scroll down below to peep a previous post for a whole collection of great fights!

Before you head to our Christmas party (which I hope you both RSVP'd to and rounded up your canned goods for!), check out these tournament bouts from the THAI FIGHT tournament event, uploaded by DuangAesthetic.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Little needs to be said about Saenchai. With his perceptive eyes alone, he is a fighter that almost never fails to conquer an opening in his opponents' game. Coupled with his own technical genius, he is also the most elusive fighter in any combat sport on the planet. His style and talent have allowed him to enjoy a long reign as the pound for pound greatest in the world.

As the announcers say, Pakorn is much more of a meat and potatoes fighter. He brings to the table strong stable footwork and a body cast out of iron. If you need proof, search his fight with Pornsaneh, in which both fighters brutally battered everything but each other's hearts for 5 rounds straight.

Both styles here clash for what is a great fight, and an even greater display of balance and skill.

As you watch, consider how each fighter is trying to be effective. What are the choices of weapons and the intent behind them?

Important: We are strong and priviledged. We are Martial Artists. We can help those in need.

The
holidays are always the hardest time of year for people who are in
need.

This year especially, due to the economy, people who are less
fortunate are having an especially difficult time making ends meet. Food
banks are not experiencing the same level of donations that they
usually receive this time of year.

York Muay Thai would like to help
this situation, so please consider bringing a non-perishable food
donation to be donated to a local food bank.

If you bring 5 items, then
you will get extra chances to win excellent prizes in this year's
raffle!!

Sunday, December 9, 2012

This is a war. Sagetdao is one of the top dogs in the Lightweight Thai circuit, having won the championship several times and fighting many of the biggest names. He brings a straight forward game of strong basic technique. No frills in a Sagetdao fight- Just damage!

These two, in case you don't follow MT (which you REALLY should), are living legends. Both are older with Somrak being in his late 30's and Jomhod being in his early 40's. Both fighters were once nearly unstoppable.

If you don't know either fighter, STOP READING. Go youtube a video or highlight of them now. Get aquainted with their legends and ability first.

Jomhod is something of a ridiculous 13 or 14 time world champion, and held Lumpinee and Rajadamnern titles during some of its most competitive eras.

Somrak is a 1996 Olympic boxing champion, with over 100 amateur boxing fights. In addition, he was obviously a star in Muay Thai. He is known for being tricky, and was one of the original trainers of the very famous Saenchai.

This is from the Toyota Vigo tournament held in Chiang Mai back in September. Kem is a WMC and former Rajadamnern champ, and Thepsuthin is a Lumpinee champion and one of the highest ranked fighters at his weight.

These two titans clashed early on in the tournament. Right off the bell you can get a sense for the power and speed derived from their technique. The fight definitely starts at a higher pace than traditional MT fights, since the tournament fights are 3 rounds instead of 5.

Thursday, December 6, 2012

This is an old fight between the two rivals. Although the fight is under K-1 rules which prohibits elbows and clinch, this was in an era where K-1 referees were a little more relaxed on those rules. Both Buakaw and JWP are MT fighters by nature, and so it did make for a great match up at the time.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Dec 9th is the most important day of Muay Thai, is it is the King of Thailand's birthday. Ajahn Suchart,
and the Thai ambassador has requested our presence to celebrate a night
of Thai food, awards, Kru promotions and of course...fights.

If you are like me, and Muay Thai has done much positivity in your
life, tonight is the night to give back. I hope for all of us to
celebrate that night together.

*Tickets are reserved in advance with your Kru (Jen)! 65$ is all inclusive. Let's get a YMT table going!

Please let us know ASAP if you can attend!!!*

"A wonderful night of
traditional and cultural events including: His Honour the Ambassador to
Thailand's welcome speech, Thai dancers, Thai food, my annual reflection
and awards ceremony, recognition of new Krus, and Kru Yais, Muay Thai
demonstrations and the Royal Thai Ambassador Cups, and more special
items to honour the occasion."

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

You are invited to join your YMT family this year!
Come out for Awards, Prizes, Food and the celebration of another year together :D

December 16th! 6pmLocation: TBA

Important:

The
holidays are always the hardest time of year for people who are in
need.

This year especially, due to the economy, people who are less
fortunate are having an especially difficult time making ends meet. Food
banks are not experiencing the same level of donations that they
usually receive this time of year. York Muay Thai would like to help
this situation, so please consider bringing a non-perishable food
donation to be donated to a local food bank. If you bring 5 items, then
you will get extra chances to win excellent prizes in this year's
raffle.

Here is Kru Jen's article with a unique, yet not so unique
perspective on being a woman in the Muay Thai world. I say "not so
unique" only because their are many women in the MT community, and Kru
helps bring the reality of being one to the forefront.

I
also think it's a great article for anyone that's ever felt too shy,
weak or perhaps overlooked in their MT and life experience. Read it and hopefully inspire yourself to reach your full potential, regardless of what anyone else thinks.

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

This fight was for the Ch 7 Mini fly weight (105 lbs) championship. If you look back, you see I've been posting Yuthasak fights a lot recently. He's kind of a ring genius. Sitisak is no slouch though, and takes it to him.

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

We all know that the better your pad holder is, the better training you get. If you learn to improve your ability to hold pads, you can not only improve your partner's technique but educate them on how to improve yours.

So this Sunday (November 11th) from 11am-1pm, we'll be having a workshop on pad holding- both for general techniques, as well as how to train fighters.

Monday, November 5, 2012

Yes, it is indeed getting colder! However, it's never too late to pick up some running tips...especially since running is a staple in a Muay Thai fighter's training regime.

There are many different things you'll hear about running form, and I would never say that one style should fit all. This particular style has helped me a lot though. I'm not a great runner, but I've found that I'm more efficient and my times improved when adopting this style.

Kru Jen will be teaching at this Charity event along with many others in the martials arts community. ***THIS IS A DONATE WHAT YOU WANT AT DOOR EVENT*** Preferably a $20 DONATION, BUT ANY AMOUNT IS ACCEPTED AND RESPECTED!!!

*see the cause below

FOOD & DRINKS WILL BE AVAILABLE THROUGHOUT THE DAY"Evolution Mafa invites
you, your friends & family to our Open House on Sunday November 4th
with all proceeds of event going directly to the "HOPE" ORGANIZATION to
help build a school in a region of The Dominican Republic. Come
experience a vast wealth of knowledge and training from our collection
of guest instructors for the day ALL volunteering their time for this
amazing event. ALSO, Meet INSTRUCTORS/FIGHTERS/STUDENTS from neighbouring schools in our Muay Thai Hotbed of ONTARIO!"

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

It's another Yuthasak fight, cause I just love watching this guy work in the ring. It's an interesting fight, because Phetdam seems to be at a disadvantage both in range and in skill.

However, Phetdam doesn't lose any heart and instead pushes the pace of the fight...throwing fire with every shot and not giving Yuthasak much room to breath. It's a great display of heart and conditioning.

On the other hand, it's interesting to see how Yuthasak is forced to use his foot work and stay in control of the pace, even when he's not the one setting it.

Friday, October 26, 2012

You may have heard the following phrases:
1. "When Muay Thai is done right, it ain't pretty....it's devastating"
2. "When Muay Thai is done right, it's beautiful...a work of art"

Both answers, to the average person, conflict. To the us as practioners, both are correct. Our definition of
beauty comes not from the aesthetics of kick, or a how flashy the knock out
is (although we can appreciate that). Beauty comes from the devastating
implementation of proper technique.

In this case, a good hard low kick
broke a thigh bone. Simple, no flash low kick. Yes, you read that right. Broke the thigh bone...check it out.

Thursday, October 25, 2012

There are just too many awesome KO's to go around! Here is Yuthasak Sakburiram vs Anuwat Sithom- two young warriors in the 105 lbs division.

Yuthasak is quickly becoming one of my current favourites. He has a mean teep and excellent coordination with his elbows. Anuwat is also a very game fighter. Both are ranked high in the Channel 7 stadium. While it's not Lumpini or Raja, I personally find Ch 7 fighters tend to bang it out a lot harder right away (in the other stadiums, they play the game a little more and feel it out longer).

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Bangkok played home to the Thai Fight Promotion's latest fight card, and I'm please to share with you videos of all the fights! The channel this was uploaded to also has many of the previous Thai Fights...take your time and enjoy the action!

Monday, October 22, 2012

Petchmonkong is a fairly long fighter at this weight in Thailand. He's got strong legs, but has been caught in the past for having somewhat loose hands.
Sittichai is the slightly smaller of the two, but probably more well rounded. He's a somewhat more familiar face to the westerm crowd as he's fought and completely beat up a lot of international competition.

One of the things I love about watching Thai fighters is seeing how sharp their strikes are. Taking a step back from "technique", as many different gyms and fighters have their own takes on it: look at the power and speed of the strikes.

Rarely do you see a Thai fighter only kick quickly, without some significant dig into the target. They've merged strength with fluidity almost perfectly. I find that when watching non Thai fighters, there are few that maintain that damaging integrity to their weapons, in a sacrifice for speed. Liam Harrison is one of those few that kicks both incredibly hard, with good speed.

Anyways, that's my glowing rant on top level MT fighters. Here's a great Raja fight where both fighters have showcase some sharp striking:http://youtu.be/VVypT9prwU8